FinTech Scotland doubles down on data to strengthen fintech
Nicola Anderson, Managing Director of Fintech Scotland, discussed developments within the organization and future developments in the Scottish fintech sector.
FinTech Scotland is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 2018 with 26 fintechs and has grown to accommodate 224 fintechs in their community. Anderson expresses excitement at the progression, commercialization and investment flourishing in Scotland’s financial services and fintech sector.
Anderson draws parallels with the challenges facing the Scottish fintech community to fintechs in the UK: “The priorities are skills, access to talent, investment and a commercialization route to market. The majority of fintech entrepreneurs in Scotland are developing B2B or B2B2C propositions, so it is important that they have an opportunity to work with the major financial institutions as they develop their products.”
FinTech Scotland works on a number of initiatives to drive innovation and growth in the industry, such as their Innovation Challenges, which are collaborations with other organizations to attract entrepreneurs to pitch solutions, two of which are currently live in the market. In 2022, an Innovation Challenge in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group attracted 85 applications, and they more than doubled this statistic this year.
In collaboration with colleges, schools and universities, FinTech Scotland is focused on developing new talent and creating interest in the industry. Anderson explains:
“There is an immediate need to place and develop talent and skills, and that takes us to universities and colleges to develop talent placement approaches that fit with their current programs. Also, thinking about the long-term need takes us to fintech for schools; working with secondary schools across Scotland, thinking about building curiosity and students to consider fintech as a career, helping students understand what fintech means, the breadth of fintech and connecting schools with fintech companies.”
Anderson states that the organization is currently laying the groundwork for the future of R&D across the industry, with actions to build on over the next year. Referring to the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap published in 2022, which outlined the agenda for new initiatives and focus areas for the future of fintech in Scotland, she notes that there has been growth and development in all four key areas: climate finance, open financial data, payments and transactions and financial regulation.
“If I take you to the financial regulation priority, we are currently working to establish a financial regulation innovation lab, helped by the UK government’s recent innovation accelerator, which is funding support in three regions of the UK, Glasgow, Manchester and the West. Midlands.”
Anderson continues that there has been successful collaboration between FinTech Scotland and other international organisations. She notes that work with FinTech Northern Ireland and FinTech Wales has flourished, and that FinTech Scotland, Fintech North and Innovate Finance established the Fintech National Network in 2018. There has been continuous communication between the regions to support each other and continue to promote innovation.
In terms of future trends in the Scottish fintech industry, Anderson notes that they are seeing developments similar to those in the UK sector, with a sharp focus on open finance, data-driven innovation, climate finance and the development of digital assets. She notes that the depth of expertise and data-driven innovation in Scottish cities, such as Edinburgh, places them in an excellent position for new opportunities.
Commenting on innovations in the climate sector, Anderson states: “There is significant investment going into the UK, in Scotland and the south west of England, in space innovation, including space data, the ability of satellites to capture data, which will have potential. role to play in helping to build better insights to help manage the climate agenda. So there is a very nice connection in climate finance between space innovation, satellite capture data and Earth observation data, and the role fintech can play as we build better insights and find solutions and different ways to advance the climate problem.”
